Nine’s largest shareholder Bruce Gordon carefully times his run with sale of TV licences

After selling off WIN’s northern NSW TV licences, Nine’s largest shareholder, billionaire Bruce Gordon, is free to lift his stake to a dominant position.

Bruce Gordon could be legally entitled to lift his stake in Nine to 25.1 per cent. Picture: Renee Nowytarger

The sale last week of WIN corporation’s northern NSW TV licences had long been in the works, but the timing of the divestment set industry tongues wagging.

The sell-off of the licences to Network Ten – provided the deal meets the necessary regulatory requirements – will allow billionaire WIN owner Bruce Gordon, Nine’s largest shareholder, to further tighten his control of Nine by converting his equity swaps with Macquarie Group into shares.

Free from the shackles of Australia’s media ownership laws, Mr Gordon, 96, would be legally entitled to lift his stake in Nine from 14.95 per cent to a dominant 25.1 per cent.

It’s also likely that by lifting his stake in Nine, Mr Gordon would push for a second seat on the board – which at present has seven members, including interim CEO Matt Stanton.

The chief executive of WIN Corporation, Andrew Lancaster, currently sits on the Nine board as Mr Gordon’s proxy.

But with Nine not expected to appoint its next CEO until after the release of its half-yearly results on February 25, and with ongoing uncertainty about the length of existing chairwoman Catherine West’s tenure, there is speculation as to whether the time is right for Mr Lancaster to make a play for either of those roles to mirror Mr Gordon’s increased interest in the company.

In a statement last week, Mr Lancaster said: “WIN’s strategic focus is on Nine and it no longer makes sense for us to own the 10 Northern NSW business. As an industry we should be looking to make the buying of advertising easier for our clients and this transaction should help do that.”

Market observers have told The Australian that Mr Gordon’s passion for television is unrivalled, but his interest in other Nine’s assets, namely radio and publishing, is not as acute, prompting speculation that if he did launch a takeover bid for Nine there would be a garage sale of assets he didn’t want.

The key to the future of Nine is the input that Gordon family members have. Bruce’s wife Judith and children Genevieve and Andrew are also stakeholders.

It is thought Andrew has less interest in continuing to run a big media business, while Genevieve is perhaps more interested in maintaining the family legacy.

It’s understood that top of the list of what the Gordons might keep with the Nine/9now TV brands is the Stan streaming ­business.

Meanwhile, the move by Paramount to buy the northern NSW licences means nearly all the three free-to-air TV proprietors control their destiny and ad sales across Australia.

One glaring exception remains the TV licence for Tasmania that is controlled by SCA, which has an affiliate deal with Seven West Media.

SCA has been talking to Seven about a sale for some time but the price remains a sticking point for the Kerry Stokes-controlled network.

“We’ve been talking to (SCA) pretty actively,” Seven West Media CEO Jeff Howard told The Australian this week.

“Obviously, we have a strong interest in an affiliate deal with Southern Cross. We have a strong interest in what happens there.”